The prevention of Child obesity involves building healthy environments. So-called obesogenic environments are places that do not allow or fail to favor physically active behaviors and healthy food choices .
These spaces encompass society as a whole and are present in all stages of individuals’ lives. The consequence is the promotion of excessive weight gain.
Speaking specifically of childhood, it is necessary to think about the influences that families receive to buy food. In this regard, the condition of access to healthy food weighs heavily, both from a physical and economic point of view, for example. Another key point is to observe whether mothers are able to breastfeed their babies instead of offering formulas and whether complementary feeding is introduced after exclusive breastfeeding.
Nutritionist Jonas Silveira, professor at the Department of Nutrition at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), says that the absence of breastfeeding already sets up an obesogenic environment.
“It is possible to think about this at different times in the child’s life, from campaigns that weaken women’s confidence to breastfeed, to misinformation related to the promotion of ultra-processed foods to introduce the child’s diet and then maintain these habits”, says the nutritionist.
“As important as not blaming the woman for this is understanding the context in which she is inserted, whether or not this context favors breastfeeding. Like, for example, her place of work and the guarantee of maternity leave. If it encourages breastfeeding through actions or structures”, he adds.
different spaces
From the physical point of view, urban spaces, kindergartens and schools can be mentioned, in addition to the family environment. In this context, criteria such as the availability of spaces that contribute to breastfeeding, leisure equipment, vegetable gardens and community kitchens and fairs, for example, count.
Other examples are the availability, by schools, in addition to regular physical education classes, of other strategies that can mobilize the activity. Food and nutrition education should also be part of the curriculum, through activities aimed at promoting adequate and healthy food.
School canteens, on the other hand, can contribute to limiting the supply of ultra-processed foods and prioritizing access to healthy foods.
According to the nutritionist, as the child is exposed to obesogenic environments it can increase its trajectory of weight gain.
The nutritionist also reinforces that it is important to identify structures that operate in society to try to deconstruct obesogenic environments and rebuild them, so that they provide opportunities and encourage healthy choices for children and the entire population.
“Protecting childhood means protecting all other stages of the life cycle. From the moment we start thinking about public policies and actions that try to converge towards healthy cities, we end up protecting society as a whole”, she says.
Risks of childhood obesity
Obesity in children and adolescents is multifactorial, according to the Ministry of Health. Genetic, individual, behavioral and environmental conditions can influence nutritional status.
The public report by the National Food and Nutrition Surveillance System, with data from people monitored in Primary Health Care (PHC), points out that, by mid-September 2022, more than 340,000 children aged 5 to 10 years old were diagnosed with obesity. In 2021, APS diagnosed obesity in 356,000 children of the same age.
Currently, the South region has 11.52% of obese children in this age group, the highest rate in the country. Then appear the Southeast regions, with 10.41%; Northeast, with 9.67%; Midwest, with 9.43%; and North, with 6.93% of children monitored by the Unified Health System (SUS) in the region.
Experts point out that the blaming view reinforces the stigma of obesity and makes it difficult to understand the broad context of public health.
Scientific evidence points out that overweight children are more likely to become obese adults. As a consequence, the onset of various diseases may occur, such as diabetes, orthopedic problems, psychological disorders, cardiovascular diseases and hypertension, the latter being the main risk factor for infarction and cerebrovascular accident (CVA), popularly known as stroke.
The assessment of childhood obesity should consider factors such as access to healthy foods, growth and development monitoring, among others. According to Jonas, the way fathers, mothers or caregivers interact with children can influence the relationship they will establish with food.
Spaces that favor the consumption of inappropriate foods, excessive exposure to ultra-processed foods, restrictions for the child to eat and offering food as rewards can compromise the child’s ability to respond to the body’s satiety control, contributing to overweight.
In addition, comments about body shapes and sizes may lead to eating and body image disorders in the future.
Learn how to identify ultra-processed foods
Source: CNN Brasil
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